THE Philippines will soon complete its most successful Olympics ever. The delegation will come home with two gold medals and two bronze medals. Unless upended by last-minute heroics, the Philippines will be the best Southeast Asian country in the Paris Games.
The lasting image of the Games for Filipinos will be Carlos Yulo turning, twisting, running, jumping and somersaulting to win two gold medals.
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But another image, this time not so flattering and heroic, may become one of the saddest legacies of the Paris Olympic Games.
In a video going viral, Olympic golfer Dottie Ardina is shown slowly, deliberately and desperately trying to stick a patch of our national flag to a shirt recently bought for her and teammate Bianca Pagdanganan’s use in the third round of the golf competition at Le Golf National.
Ardina appears to nonchalantly go about her task, but as the video went along, she was voicing her frustration about her team officials’ shortcomings.
“Sana all with uniforms,” she said. “Kami lang ang wala. Kailangan bumili pa ng t-shirts. Dyos ko, ano bang klaseng Olympics ito?”
She continued: “Shout out naman dyan, sa mga nagbigay ng uniforms natin, saan na napunta? Dalawa na lang kami dito, 22 lang ang atleta, kulang-kulang pa.”
As she started sticking the flag on her shirt afterwards, she continued, “Tingnan natin kung mahaba haba buhay nito,” meaning whether the double-sided tape will work for at least 18 holes.
“Nakakahiya,” she said,”sobra-sobrang tao, kami lang walang uniform, tuklap-tuklap pa ito (meaning the flag).”
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Adding to the duo’s woes and maybe, feeling of insecurity, was the fact that many of the women competing in the tournament were elegantly dressed. On TV, the girls looked gorgeous, neat and well-trimmed with their attractive uniforms adding to their overall pleasant appearance.
Maybe one may not play well, but at least they looked good and attractive while hitting their shots and walking down the fairways.
Ardina shoots fiery 69
Despite the issues about uniforms, Ardina did not disappoint. She produced her best round of the tournament – a three-under-par 69 – and moved to solo 23rd spot at one-over for the tournament, 10 behind leaders Lydia Ko and Morgane Metraux who were at nine-under, with one round left.
Pagdanganan, on the hand, had a bad day with her one-par 73 that dropped her from tied sixth to a tie for 13th place with a total of two-under-par, seven behind the leader.
According to sources, the uniforms were not hand carried to Paris and instead were shipped to the Olympic site. But the process of getting them out proved to be problematic and Dottie and Bianca were left wearing store-bought shirts from an adidas store, the brand contracted to provide the Philippine delegation uniforms.
Addressing the issue, Bones Floro, National Golf Association of the Philippines (NGAP) secretary-general and the head of the golf delegation in Paris, said sorry for the uniform flap, admitting the two golfers' uniforms provided by the delegation's official outfitter got held up at customs in the French capital.
Floro also urged fans to 'focus on the golf' in the Inquirer Golf video that has since been taken down.
Golf fans, however, were quick to pounce on the issue, posting photos of Pagdanganan and Ardina in action with the Philippine flags on their chests peeling off.
Other fans pointed out that the national team has been in Paris for almost a week and its officials could've provided the two players with uniforms far better than what they are wearing.
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